


We Can Walk Together

by Fairylights4672



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, hopefully this isn’t hard to follow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22534558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairylights4672/pseuds/Fairylights4672
Summary: “I’m going to find you.” She growled, under her breath. “You can’t run from me forever.”Silence greeted her in return.But then she heard it.Metal against metal.One.It rung.Two.The Doctor set her jaw.Three.He was taunting her. Daring her to come and find him.Four.Fine. She’d play the game.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master, Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 147





	We Can Walk Together

**Author's Note:**

> Theta is referred to as she/her in this just to make it easier to follow ok? Ok

Enough was enough. 

She’d chased him down to a desolate planet that she didn’t know the name of, managed to stop his TARDIS and leave him stranded. 

He wasn’t going anywhere until she got what she wanted. 

It had started two weeks after she’d gone to Gallifrey. 

The Doctor had been buried deep in the TARDIS’s circuits late at night, her friends tucked away in bed a little ways away, when she’d felt it. 

An intruision. 

The Doctor thought it was her own thoughts for a moment, before realising it wasn’t her voice. 

‘You can’t distract yourself forever.’ 

That’s what it said. 

The Doctor had hesitantly reached out, confused. 

‘Who’s in my head?’

The voice hadn’t replied. 

She felt apprehensively along their bond, with a sinking feeling. 

It couldn’t be him. 

The Doctor had closed the bond after Paris, she’d made sure of it. Besides, he was in another dimension, there should’ve been no way he could contact her. 

Unless he’d gotten out, she’d realised. 

The Doctor left it alone, aware he was probably listening to her trying to figure it out. 

She pretended he wasn’t there. 

But it got harder. 

“Will we ever go to your home planet, Doctor?” Yaz asked. 

‘When will you tell them?’ His voice pestered. ‘They’ll leave you if you don’t.’

“Are you ok, Doc?” Graham queried. 

‘If you tell them they’ll leave you. They’ll see you for the monster you are.’ 

“That was a little harsh, Doctor.” Ryan murmured, hurt.

‘How long until you’re alone again? Doctor Doctor Doctor Doctor. What is the Doctor without friends? A murderer perhaps?’ 

“Why won’t you tell us about the Time Lords, Doctor?”

‘Because they’re dead. Dead and gone and it’s the Doctor’s fault. You did this. You’ll see that.’ 

It had become unbearable. The Doctor wanted to cut her own stupid brain out. 

Why wouldn’t he leave? It wasn’t fair. And it wasn’t her fault. It couldn’t be. 

There was a straw though, that broke. 

Ryan had asked, if she’d ever seen a star die. An innocent question, but one that reminded her way too much of all the death and dying she’d seen, and she’d snapped. 

“Yes. Now would you stop asking questions??” 

‘Harsh Doctor. Mean Doctor. Scary Doctor. Not someone they want to travel with.’ 

And he was right. 

That evening, the fam had asked to go home. Just for a while, they reassured, they said they just wanted a break. 

Wether the Doctor would decide to go back for them was up in the air, but they didn’t need to know that. 

As soon as Graham shut the door, the Doctor put her walls up, as high and as thick as she could. Not enough for him to be forced out, but enough for him to know she was up to something. 

She couldn’t let him know what though. 

She’d plugged herself into the TARDIS, focusing on finding him. It didn’t take long. 

He was simply floating through the vortex. But not for much longer. 

It wasn’t complicated, the device was almost too easy to make. Then again, she was a genius. An energy bomb, enough to overpower his engine for long enough to force him to essentially pull over.

She’d opened her TARDIS doors, and pressed a button down. Sometimes it came in useful to be friends with one of the worlds best cricket players. Her throwing arm had gotten some practice in.

The bomb stuck, and she watched as the Master’s TARDIS began to spin out of control. 

‘You have got to be kidding me.’ 

The Doctor let him feel her smugness. 

And now here they were, the Master crash landed on a desolate planet with the Doctor tracking him down, and furious. 

She’d checked his TARDIS, he wasn’t there. 

She’d checked her mind, but he’d scarpered. 

Fine. They’d have to do this the hard way. 

The planet was made up of valleys from what she could see, red grass and high hills. There also seemed to be what looked like a crashed ship maybe a mile away, old and rusted and huge. 

Hills. Hills were good. 

The Doctor trekked up the nearest one, trying her best to feel him, sense him. 

He was here, somewhere. But that wasn’t very helpful. 

She’d gotten to the top, and she listened. 

No wind. 

No breath. 

No animals. 

No Master. 

“I’m going to find you.” She growled, under her breath. “You can’t run from me forever.” 

Silence greeted her in return. 

But then she heard it. 

Metal against metal. 

One. 

It rung. 

Two. 

The Doctor set her jaw. 

Three. 

He was taunting her. Daring her to come and find him. 

Four. 

Fine. She’d play the game. 

-

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. 

Her friends at home weren’t like this. She didn’t understand why everyone here seemed so stuck up and pristine. It was only her first day, and she was already being made fun of for not being as well kept as the others. 

Well that was just fine by her. 

Friends were overrated anyway. 

“Excuse me!” She heard a voice behind her as she turned away from the bigger boy picking on her, and saw a boy, more her height coming towards her. “Um..sorry..I just-“ 

“Yeah?” She raised an eyebrow. 

“I think...i..I like your hair. Even if it isn’t..as..neat as everyone else’s.” He stuttered slightly. 

She cocked her head to the side. 

He was pale, with dark, orderly hair and wide, blue eyes, apprehensive but eager to make a good impression. 

“Thank you.” She grinned, deciding then and there to keep him. “I like my hair too.”

“Is your next class up here?” He asked, pointing up the rather daunting corridor- especially for an eight year old. 

“Yes. Is yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Good! We can walk together then.” She started up the hall, her new friend jogging to keep up with her slightly. “What’s your name?”

-

The Doctor stalked her way towards the wreckage, but refused to run. 

She figured she might need her energy later. 

The noise was insistent, and Jesus, she wanted to rip out whatever he was using to make it from his hand and throw it across the room. 

She supposed that was why he was doing it. 

“Are you going to keep running from me like a coward? Or are you going to face me?” She opened the question up to the daunting wreckage in front of her. 

It was huge, the Doctor guessed about a mile long. Infuriatingly, she couldn’t pinpoint the noise he was making, where he was. 

Judging by the way the drumming didn’t stop, she took that as a yes to the running. 

The Doctor pulled herself up onto what looked like a wing, rammed deep into the earth below, and began the ascent upward towards an opening into the main body. 

“You’ve made your point. Stop it now.” She called loudly, hearing her voice bounce off of the walls and the next beat of four. “I want to talk to you.” 

The beat got louder, faster. She swallowed down a similar beat in her chest. 

The Doctor clambered inside, ducking under a twisted bar of metal and pulling herself up onto it. 

The drums taunted her. 

“Stop acting like a child. Let me talk to you.” She snapped slightly, and the beat somehow seemed to get more gleeful. 

“Fine. Be difficult. I love difficult.” She muttered, heaving herself up onto a wall, and stopping for a moment to catch her breath. 

The drumming didn’t stop, and the Doctor squeezed her eyes shut. 

All the time he’d been in her head had seemed to have left her vulnerable, and the beats were starting to ring through her skull. 

She felt his smugness. 

Fine. 

If he wanted to play games, she’d play games. 

And she’d win. 

-

“Koschei!!” She practically kicked the door to their dorm in, and her friend jumped, a thick line going through whatever he was writing. 

“Theta!”

“Sorry.” She whispered, closing the door quietly. “Whatcha doooing?” She clasped her hands behind her back and stepped towards him, peering over her friends shoulder. 

“The telepathy homework.” 

“The what?” He looked over his shoulder at her. 

“It’s in for tomorrow.” 

“Whoops.” Theta grabbed her own chair and wheeled it over next to him. “Well guess what I just found out?”

“What?” He sighed. 

“Mrs Ruthro and Mr Setathon have been arrested.” She whispered, eyes wide. Koschei’s own eyes quickly mirrored hers, and he flicked his wrist, his pen disappearing. 

“What? What for?” 

“They were together, and no one knew. They were planning on having a child..y’know..together.”

“..loomed?” Theta shook her head. “Wow. That’s really bad.” He murmured, “Who’s going to teach us history now?”

“That’s not important.” She waved him off. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?”

“Why wanting to have an unloomed child is so bad.” She shrugged. 

“Theta!” Her friend hissed, “for Rassilons sake, keep your voice down.” 

“Well, I’m just saying.” She whispered. “I think, if I were to have a child, I wouldn’t want it to be loomed.” 

Koschei frowned at his friend. 

“That’s a dangerous thing to say, Theta. Besides, you shouldn’t be thinking about that. We’re only 15. We should focus on the academy.” The blond scoffed, wheeling her way back over to her own desk. 

“By the God’s, you are boring sometimes, Koschei. When are you going to learn to live a little?”

-

The Doctor picked up the pole, weighing it in her hand for a moment. 

She listened. 

1,2,3,4.

The Doctor grabbed the pole with two hands and slammed it into the wall next to her. 

1,2,3,4. Louder than his. Angrier than his. 

She paused, waited, catching her breath. 

He didn’t reply for a moment, clearly trying to figure out what her game plan was. 

And then: 1,2,3,4.

The Doctor followed the noise as it rung about her ears, before stopping to hit back the same beat. The noises vibrated in her hands, in the floor beneath her and in her skull. 

Now it was a test of will. Who would give in first. The Doctor didn’t really imagine it was going to be the Master: He’d been living with it since he was 8.

But she knew full well he couldn’t resist a fight. It would keep him where he was, for long enough for her to find him. 

He replied, beats taunting and smug. 

The Doctor tried to shake off the ringing in her ears, and let go of the pole with one hand, putting her back into her swings. 

She grit her teeth, trying to force all of her anger and fury and frustration and infuriation into the noise. She was so fed up. So done with his games. 

1.

So over his taunting and so broken and it was his fault. 

His fault. 

2.

They were gone and it was his fault. 

Everything she loved was gone and it was his fault. 

3.

She hated him. 

She despised him. 

4.

And she made sure he’d know it. 

-

“What’s wrong?” She asked, frowning at him. He was sat on his bed, picking at his nails. 

“It’s nothing.” 

“Yes it is.” Theta frowned. “Something’s wrong.”

“It’s not new.”

“What isn’t?”

Koschei sighed deeply, glancing up at her from across the room. 

“I’m starting to think no one else can hear it.”

“Hear what?” Theta uncrossed her legs and made her way over, sitting beside him. 

“The noise.” He whispered it, and a flicker of dread started in her stomach. She didn’t like the darkness in his eyes. 

“What noise?” She whispered back. Koschei shifted uncomfortably, scratching at the back of his neck. 

“Y’know...y’know initiation? How you ran?” 

“And you were inspired, yes.” She nodded, not shying away from what she’d done. Not with Koschei. She didn’t need too. 

“Yes. I mean- I thought I was, but I’m not sure that’s true.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Theres...” her friend but his lip, looking down at the bed between them. “When I looked..there was a noise, that started in my head. I thought it- I thought it was inspiring me, that I needed to figure out what it meant, and then it would go. But..I can’t figure it out.” 

“I don’t understand.” Theta frowned.

“It’s so loud, Theta. It’s so loud, can’t you hear it?” 

“No.” She shook her head. 

“How? How can’t you hear it? It keeps me up at night, how can’t you hear it??”

“I- I don’t know,” the young Time Lord shuffled backward a tiny bit, caught off guard by how intense her friend was being. He was never like this. “What is the noise? Like- a ringing, in your ears?” 

“No.” He shook his head, and put a hand on his chest. “It’s like, heartbeats. Like, 1,2,3,4.” He slapped his chest in time with the numbers, and Theta frowned. 

“Well..it’s got to mean something. If Initiation gave it to you, maybe one of the teachers knows something.”

“No, no.” Her friend shook his head. “I don’t want them to know. Only you.”

“Ok.” She didn’t question him, and shuffled back to squeeze his hand. “We’ll figure it out then. I mean, it’s probably a good thing, right?”

-

He was close now. 

She could taste it. 

Her hands hurt, ached with the beats, and her hearts were roaring in her ears. 

She slammed the pole into a door. 1,2,3,4. 

And she waited, panting. 

Nothing. 

He didn’t reply. 

“Oh, come on.” The Doctor almost laughed, “you’re gonna back out now? Like a coward?” 

‘It’s in your head.’ Rage flooded through her as his voice muttered between her ears. 

“Come on.” She muttered. 

‘Why would I make it easy?’

“Come on!” The Doctor roared, hurling the pole across the room. It clattered loudly against the quiet metal, but it wasn’t as deafening as the beats. 

She swallowed, trying to catch her breath. 

‘Temper, temper, Doctor.’ 

“Where are you?” She snapped, stalking through a doorway. “God you’re a coward.” The Time Lord snapped when he didn’t reply. She could still feel him in her head, scratching and taunting. “Always getting me to do everything for you. Couldn’t fight your own battles.” 

‘You chose to kill for me, Doctor.’ 

“Because I loved you.” She hissed. 

‘Well look at where that’s got you.’

-

“K-koschei- I-“ Theta stared at her hands, noticed how much they were shaking. “What have I done?”

“Theta.” Her friend whispered, picking himself up off of the river bank and making his way towards her. She stared at him, eyes watering and wide. “You saved my life.”

“I- I just murdered someone.” She hissed under her breath, as he took her hands. 

“It’s ok. We can deal with this. We’ll burn the body.” 

“You’re not listening to me.” 

“We need to move it.” 

“But- I-“ her voice caught in her throat. 

“Come on, help me.” 

“Koschei!” Theta pulled his hands sharply, and her friend turned his attention to her. “I just killed him. Torvic’s dead- b- because of me.”

“I know.” Her friend let go of her hands, and replaced them on her cheeks, wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumbs. “But you had too. He was going to kill me. You did a good thing.” 

Theta shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. 

“Yes. Yes you did. You saved me, now let me save you. You help me get rid of the body, and I’ll make sure you don’t get caught, ok?” 

“H- how are you so calm about this?” She whispered, voice shaking. 

“Because we have to be. And we have to be smart too.”

“Koschei- I- I cant-“

“Theta, listen to me.” His voice was firm and she listened. He was sure of himself, and taller than her too. When had that happened? Maybe when they were 73, and he’d had that growth spurt? Or-

“Focus.” He ordered. Theta nodded. “You did what you had too. Now we have to make sure it wasn’t for nothing. We get caught, you go to prison, and you’ll never see me again. Do you want that?”

“No.” She breathed. 

“Then help me move this body.” 

-

“I should’ve known.” The Doctor muttered, picking her way through the wreck. “You were way too calm. Should’ve known then and there you were bloody deranged!”

“I cleared up your mess.” The Doctor whipped around, trying to figure out where his voice was coming from. It echoed around her, taunted her. 

“I didn’t want to kill him.” She growled. 

“Really? I don’t remember you saying that as you held his head underwater? When you drowned him as he clawed at your hands, and screamed for his parents? No, that’s on you, not me, my dear.”

“The deaths of the rest of them are on you though.” She scoffed, icily cold. 

“Well, yes. Suppose we’re even.”

“Why are you in my head?” The Doctor asked, fists clenching and unclenching at her side. 

“Why are you alone?” 

“I’m sick and tired of games.” She spat. “When will you just talk to me?” 

“When will the drumming stop? All good questions.” 

“How many times have I told you I can help?” The Doctor pulled herself into another room. “It’s all I can do. So why won’t you let me?”

He was silent for a moment. 

The Doctor stopped, catching her breath and listening. Having to climb through a pretty much vertical ship was not easy, especially with rage clouding her vision.   
“When will you stop letting your guard down?” 

That wasn’t around her. 

That was behind her.

The Doctor whipped around, and gasped as a forehead was pressed to her own. 

-

“Are you crazy?” Theta hissed, as Koschei hurried her into the room and shut the door behind him. “Have you got any idea the kind of trouble we’d be in if we got found here? We could be arrested!”

“Oh come on, where’s your sense of adventure, Theta? You were always the rule breaker.”

“That was different. Skipping class and hypnotising people is very different to- this.” She gesticulated at the room around them. 

“You didn’t have a problem with it last night.” Koschei argued, pocketing his hands. Theta rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, maybe cuz we weren’t in a classroom, where anyone could walk in on us at any time.”

“Dont be a wimp.” He threw out into the space between them. Theta glowered at him. He knew she couldn’t resist a challenge. 

“I’m not a wimp.” She indulged him. 

“You are. You used to be the one encouraging me to break the rules. Now you’re too afraid to even kiss me.” 

“I haven’t changed. I have limits. You- I mean you just went wild. Rassilon knows what happened to you.” 

He crossed the space between them, smirk evident on his face. 

“Does it matter? You like it, don’t you?” 

Theta huffed, uncrossing her arms and dragging him close. She pressed a firm and fierce kiss to his lips, but didn’t give him enough time to react and leave her craving more. 

“I’m not a wimp.” She muttered. “Don’t forget that.”

“What? That you’re not a wimp, or that you’re in charge?” He raised an eyebrow. 

She narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Both.”

-

1 2 3 4.

It burnt. It hurt and it ached and it yelled in her mind. God, why did it hurt so much? 

“Stop.” She couldn’t hear herself. 

1 2 3 4. 

He held onto her when she tried to pull away. 

Her mind was being clawed at. 

It was so loud. 

It hurt. 

1 2 3 4. 

“Stop it!” 

She couldn’t hear. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t feel. It was all she could see, all she could hear. It hurt so much. Why couldn’t she think?

1 2 3 4. 

Where was she? How did she get here? It hurt, it hurt so much. It was so loud. Why wouldn’t it stop? 

Was she losing her mind? 

She was. 

She was going crazy, she was sure of it. 

“P- please- please stop.”

The Master let go of her, and the Doctor dropped to her knees. 

She was shaking, breathing ragged and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Her old friend paced over to the other side of the room as the Doctor clutched at her temples, trying to get them to stop throbbing. 

“W- why would you do that?” She whispered, pushing her hair from her face and cradling herself close. 

“Because you have no idea. You never did.” He muttered, turning back to look at the Doctor. 

She sniffled, gasping in a deep breath. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“You. You always tell me you’ll help. Always told me you’d help me, but you never understood. Never knew what it was really like.” 

“W- well, now I do.” She said quietly. 

“No!” He barked, striding over and crouching down in front of her. “No, you have no idea.” He spat. “Not a clue.”

“What do you want?” She whispered. 

“I want you to see that you and I- are nothing alike.” 

“That wasn’t what you said before.” The Doctor frowned. 

“I was a fool. But I see now. I see. You and I- we were never together. Never a team. Now that the Time Lord’s are gone, you’re alone. You have no one.” 

“I’ll always have you,” The Doctor whispered. “Even if you don’t want me.” 

“I don’t.” He muttered, standing up. The Doctor wanted to follow him, but she didn’t trust her legs yet. “I don’t want you. I never have.”

-

“What are you doing?” Theta huffed, flopping down in the red grass beside him. 

“I’m doing the reading. For telepathy.” 

“Reading’s boring.” 

“Can you even do it?” He raised an eyebrow. Theta rolled her eyes and plucked the book from his hands, tossing it aside. “Oi.”

“I’m far more interesting than a stupid book.” She announced, pinning his hands in the grass underneath them. 

“Oh yes? What’s going on in the mind of Theta today then?”

“I was thinking about stealing a TARDIS.”

“What are you on about?” He scoffed. 

“I’m so bored of the Academy. We’ve been here for ages.”

“112 years. That’s nothing.”

“I know, but I’m bored. What if we just stole a TARDIS?”

“We? What makes you think I’m coming with you?” He cocked an eyebrow. 

“Do you get a choice?” 

“Do you even know how to fly a TARDIS?”

“I could learn.”

Koschei pushed back on her arms, rolling them over and leaning over her. He traced a finger and a thumb over her cheek and jaw, watching her skin beneath his touch. 

“And what would we see, when you’ve learnt to fly a TARDIS, my love?” 

“Everything.” She smiled widely. “Anything you’ve ever dreamt of.” 

“Will anyone else be coming with us?” He asked, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. Theta rolled her eyes. 

“Easily the dumbest question you’ve ever asked.”

“You’ve asked stupider.” He teased. 

“You’re dead!” She shoved him off of her and laughed as she clambered back on top of him, the two rolling through the grass. 

“Fine- Fine. Just you and I.” He scoffed. 

“What a team we’ll be.” 

-

“You don’t mean that.” The Doctor pulled herself up, feeling the wall to help her as her knees shook. 

“Yes, I do.” He muttered. 

“You’re trying to tell me 2,000 years meant nothing to you?” She scoffed, and the Master chuckled. 

“Yeah. I am. Because it’s true.” 

“I was never as smart as you but I can tell when you’re lying. That’s easily the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, and you know it.” She glared at the back of his head. 

He scoffed. 

“I don’t care about you.” He muttered. The Doctor paused. 

“Liar.” She growled. 

“What’s it to you?” The Master asked. “Why do you care wether I’m lying or not?”

“Because it’s not changed. How I feel about you. The first person I murdered was for you and I’d do it again. Faces haunt me, but his more than most, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Stop.” 

“You might not love me anymore, but I can’t help myself. It’s not something I can control and it’s not something I want too.” 

“Stop!” He turned to her, eyes- hurting. He was hurting. She wasn’t expecting that. “Why?? Why can’t you just- hate me?!”

The Doctor swallowed. 

“Why do you want me too?” She whispered. 

“Because-“ he set his jaw. “Because maybe then I’d stop feeling guilty. Maybe it would stop hurting.” 

“What are you talking about?”

-

“This won’t change us, will it?” Theta asked, looking up at Koschei. 

“What do you mean?”

“When we choose our new names.” She murmured, tracing Gallifreyan words into the skin of his chest. “It won’t change who we are. To each other, I mean.”

“Course not. You know that.” He hummed, picking at locks of her hair, threading them through his fingers and letting them fall back. “Nothing could ever stop you being my Theta.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” She hummed. 

“Where’d that come from, anyway?” 

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I just- I just love you.” 

“I love you too.” He murmured. 

“And I’m gonna love you, no matter what name you choose.No matter how stupid and cheesy it is.” 

“I haven’t even chosen it, you’re already being mean.” He smacked her lightly on the forehead. 

“Ow!”

“That didn’t hurt.”

“Might have to regenerate.” She muttered, glaring up at him. 

“Now wouldn’t that be a shame.” 

“You are so mean to me, don’t know why I put up with it.” She pouted, Koschei rolling his eyes and flicking her nose. 

“Wimp.” 

“Am not.” 

“Maybe that’s what you should change your name too. The Big Fat Wimp.”

“Only if you change yours to The Big Fat Asshat.”

-

“I-“ the Master put the heels of his hands in his eyes, rubbing for a second as he took a deep breath. He took them away and looked at her, properly. “I want to feel good, about Gallifrey. When I did it- I wanted to feel how I usually do. It’s usually fun. I usually like doing it.” 

“Maybe you didn’t, because it’s home?” 

“No,” He shook his head. “No, I didn’t because I knew you’d be crushed. All I could think of when I did it was ‘Theta’s going to hate me. Theta’s never going to want to see me again. Why would I do this to her?’”

The Doctor looked at him, almost wounded. She wanted to take his hand. Wanted to hold him, tell him it was ok. But she knew he wanted her to pull away. 

“Do you have any idea how much easier it would be if you didn’t care anymore?” 

“I-“

“I thought I’d like tormenting you. I thought I’d like breaking you apart, tearing you away from your friends, I usually do. But I didn’t. It’s different.”

“Why?” She asked quietly. 

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “I don’t know. I just- I hate it. You’re supposed to hate me. I’m supposed to like hurting you.”

He stepped towards her, and took her by the arms. 

“I don’t want to care about you. It hurts too much. I don’t want to love you.” There were tears welling in his eyes, and the Doctor wasn’t sure what to do. 

The Master sunk to his knees in front of her, and broke down in quiet sobs. 

“I’m sorry.” 

The Doctor knelt down in front of him, and hesitantly pulled him close. 

He tensed for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her and crying into her neck. The Doctor cradled his head and rocked him, closing her eyes and feeling the tears prick at them. 

She didn’t want him to hurt anymore. 

-

“Koschei!” Theta grabbed his arm before he could land another punch. “Get off of him!” 

“You say that about her again, go on I dare you.” He spat at the Time Lord, eyes wide and one hand holding a bloodied nose in front of them. 

“Stop!” She grabbed his hand and lead him away from the other, Koschei huffing through his nostrils and following her. “What did you do that for?” She snapped. 

“You heard him! I was protecting you.” 

Theta tugged her hand away from him and glowered at him. 

“No. You wanted an excuse to get into a fight.”

“Thats not true.” He frowned. 

“Yes, it is. I’m so fed up of it, one day you’re going to get seriously hurt.” 

“If I’m doing it protecting you, then fine.” He shrugged. 

“You’re- Rassilon- you’re so- difficult!” She threw her arms up in frustration. Koschei’s eyes hardened, and he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You’re not exactly peaches and cream either, Doctor.”

“Don’t call me that.” She muttered, rolling her eyes. 

“Why? It’s the name you chose.” 

“For everyone else. Not you.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you’re- you. You’re special. And you said I’m never going to be the Doctor to you. You said I’d always be Theta.” She recounted, eyes hard and slightly defensive. 

“Well, maybe I’ve changed my mind.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I?”

“No.” She snapped. 

“Well, we’ll see about that.” And with that, he stalked away. 

Theta glared after him. 

-

“How can you still love me?” The Master looked up at her, and the Doctor gently placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears with the pad of her thumb. 

“What do you mean?” She asked gently. 

“I’ve done nothing but hurt you, for hundreds of years. I’ve tried to kill you- killed your friends. I’ve hurt you so much, and you’re still- still so kind. Every time I see you, all you offer me is help and promises to see the universe together. Why?”

“Well,” the Doctor shrugged slightly. “I’m not perfect. I’ve hurt you too. I’ve done awful things to you. I suppose- I just can’t find it in my hearts to give up on you.”

“Why?” He whispered. 

“Because I love you. Because you’re the only one I’ve ever loved.” 

“That’s not true. You love so easily.” 

“No, it’s different. I love them all, my friends, my wife. I’ve loved them, I do love them. But you, you are- you’re Koschei.” She shrugged helplessly. “Two thousand years of loving and hurting and being together. That doesn’t stop just because you go down the wrong path.” 

“It’s more than that though. I’m- I’m a murderer. I burnt our home planet to the ground.”

“So did I.” She shrugged. “I guess the Children of Gallifrey deserve each other.” 

-

“Where are you going?” Theta asked. 

“Out.” He muttered. 

“Why?”

He paused. 

“Do you ever think we spend too much time together?” Koschei asked, turning to look at where Theta was actually doing homework on her bed. She frowned. 

“No. Do you?” 

“Yes.” 

“Oh.” The words shouldn’t have hurt, but they did. It was a natural thing for people to need, space, but he’d never wanted it before. They were joint at the hip. “Are you going out with friends?” She asked. 

“No. Just by myself.” He shrugged. “I won’t be long.” 

“Ok.” Theta forced a smile out. “Stay safe.” 

“We’ll see.” He closed the door. 

Theta sighed, throwing her pen across the room. The hologram disappeared before it hit the wall, and she flopped back against her bed. 

The Time Lord curled up on her side, and sighed again. 

He was distant. As he grew, Koschei had changed. More aggressive to outsiders, more distant, and smarter. 

Most of the time she felt she was five steps behind, that she was too slow for him. And she felt like sometimes that annoyed him. 

Theta longed to stay on the same page as him, but it wasn’t possible. She wasn’t good enough for him, wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t fast enough. 

It was only a matter of time until he left. 

She was sure of it. 

-

“Please, let me help.” The Doctor said softly, hand moving to cup his neck. “I want to try.” 

“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t deserve your help.” 

“Master,” she tried, frustrated. He caught her eye, and frowned. 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“What? Why not?” 

“You were never supposed too.” He murmured, shifting to take her face in his hands. “And I was never supposed to call you Doctor.” 

“I- I don’t understand.” She frowned, squeezing his shoulder. 

“Don’t you remember? When we chose our names, we promised it wouldn’t change who we were to each other. But it did. Where did we go wrong, Theta?”

“I-“ her voice was caught in her throat, and the Doctor felt tears welling up in her eyes. She’d waited centuries to hear that. Waited and waited and hoped and tried to get him to see her the way she’d always seen him again. She’d always hoped he’d see her the way he used too, just one more time. “I don’t know.” She whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. 

The Master saw it in her eyes, realisation and horror dawning in his own. 

“How long have you waited for me to say that to you?” He breathed. 

“One thousand, five hundred and three years.” A shaky smile forged on her face, as the Master pulled her close to his chest. 

“Theta,” he whispered her name like a prayer, pressing kiss after kiss to her temple. “My Theta. I’m so sorry.” 

-

“Are you excited?” He asked her, and Theta was pulled out of her daze. 

“Excited? For what?” 

“Graduation you idiot.” Koschei scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You’ve been so distant recently, maybe you finally getting to be a Time Lord will make you feel better.” 

“It’s not that.” Theta’s voice wasn’t as strong as she wanted it to be, and it was enough to catch Koschei’s attention. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“It’s you.” She mumbled, afraid of his reaction. “You don’t look at me the way you used too.”

“What are you talking about?” He frowned, making her way over to her and gently holding her by the waist, “Of course I do.” 

“No.” She didn’t meet his eye. “You said we wouldn’t change, but we have. We’re not the same as we used to be.”

“Theta, what are you talking about?” Koschei frowned. 

“Am I?” 

“Are you?”

“Theta. Anymore. Is that who I am to you?” She met his eye, frown deep at her brow. Koschei opened his mouth, before catching his breath. 

That was when her hearts broke. 

“I- I don’t know.” 

“That’s what I thought.” She pulled herself away, and walked off, tears clearing her vision. 

She wanted to leave. Wanted to tell him to go away, leave her alone and never come back. 

But she knew she couldn’t. 

Even if she didn’t want too, Theta knew she’d wait for him. 

She’d wait for millennia if she needed too. 

-

“I’m sorry.” He whispered into her hair, and the Doctor held him tightly. “You are Theta. My Theta.”

The Doctor sniffled, looking up at him. The Master sighed deeply, pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

“I never changed to you, did I? I was always Koschei.”

She nodded. 

“My Koschei. Just down the wrong path. Just lost for a while. I thought I could bring you back to me.” 

“You have.” He murmured. “I’m just sorry it took so long, my dear.”

“You’re here now.” 

“Yes. I am.” He nodded. “And I’m not leaving again, ok? I promise.” 

“I won’t let you. I won’t leave.” She promised, eyes determined and hard. 

Koschei gently pushed some hair back behind her ear. 

“Always did like your hair.” He murmured. 

Theta smiled a little, leaning up the rest of the way to his lips. 

Koschei kissed her then, and it felt like they were back in the Academy. 

Nothing mattered, because they were together, and they weren’t leaving one another again. 

His lips were firm, familiar and reassuring. Theta breathed and her hearts beat like she was a teenager again. It was exhilarating and as old as time. 

“Is your TARDIS back that way?” Koschei asked, nodding slightly back the way she’d come. 

“Yes. Is yours?” She asked, even though she knew the answer. 

A new beginning. That’s what it was. 

“Yeah.” He nodded, helping her up off of the rusted floor. 

“Good.” She took his hand, and squeezed tightly. “We can walk together then.”


End file.
